STAFFORD, Texas – A Stafford businesswoman flew to Washington state on Sunday after hearing about the massive mudslide that destroyed a community there.
Nichole Webb Rivera grew up near Arlington, Wash. Her parents and three of her children still live there. Her mom and dad, Thom and Marcy Satterlee, owned a home on Steelhead Drive, one of the streets in the path of the slide.
Rivera hasn't been able to get in touch with them since. Her daughter, Delaney Webb, and Webb's fiance Alan Bejvl were visiting her grandparents when the slide hit. They are also missing.
"The scale of this is just massive," Rivera said. "It's like the mountain fell down on top of the neighborhood."
Rivera is fearing the worst. She told Local 2 she doesn't know how her family could have survived. She doesn't believe they did.
"I'm so glad they went together," she said. "I'm blessed to think it was really fast and they didn't know what hit them."
Rivera's daughter and her fiancé were supposed to be married at the grandparent's home that was destroyed by the mudslide.
Their wedding date was set for Aug. 16.
Rivera moved to Texas several years ago and got remarried. She lives in Stafford with her husband and their two young children.
Rivera is well known in the quilting community and owns Quilt Your Own, a quilting business on the Southwest Freeway in Stafford. Her husband Vince Rivera told Local 2 his wife hopped on a plane when she couldn't get a hold of her family by phone, email or Facebook.
"I was playing the optimist and she was trying to play the realist," he said. "She's not doing very well. She's tore up about this."
Rivera's friends in the quilting community have come together and started a 'gofundme' account to raise money for the unexpected expense that will come with four memorial services.
If you'd like to donate you can do so here. http://www.gofundme.com/7r70jw